British Films Directory

Film Detail

AKA

Synopsis

Audaciously split into three simultaneous frames AKA tells the story of a disaffected youth, identity lost and found, and the search for love.

Dean, the handsome hero, is trapped in a dead world: a working class suburb with a sexually abusive father and a waitress mother who is convinced that she is the friend of aristocrats she serves.

Dean runs away from home seeking out Lady Gryffoyn, one of the many characters that his mother has told him about at the restaurant. After meeting Lady Gryffoyn, Dean moves into her home but after a short time falls out with her jealous son Alex Gryffoyn.

A chance meeting with Benjamin, a charismatic American leads Dean to Paris where he looks for work. Unable to get work Dean pretends to be Alex Gryffoyn and with Benjamin's unwitting help, infiltrates the very upper class set his mother waits on, convincing them and himself that he belongs.

All the time he is funding this deceit with his credit card, running up huge bills. Back in England the police are alerted to his fraudulent use of the credit card.

Dean hooks up with David Glendenning the rich aristocratic man for whom Benjamin is a courtesan. David takes Dean under his wing but only after expelling Dean's one true friend Benjamin from their inner circle.

Reinventing oneself comes at a price. Slowly, the living hell, which he endured at home, comes back to haunt Dean. Dean finally tells the truth to Benjamin who is furious with Dean and tells David Glendenning. The charade is over.

Dean goes back home, confronts his father and the tragic family secret is blown apart.

The film ends with Dean in prison but in possession of his own identity and on his own terms.